Vehicle and local area security system communications

ABSTRACT

A local area security system interfaces with one or more vehicles to provide enhanced security. The vehicles have vehicle sensors which may further help determine a presence of potential threat within a vicinity of the local area security system. The multiple vehicle network may communicate with each other to expand the vicinity of the local area security system, share equipment, computing resources, and information in the determination of the presence of the potential threat. The battery powered vehicle may employ various methods to conserve battery power while coupled to the local area security system.

BACKGROUND

This application is based upon and claims priority from prior U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/698,941, filed on Apr. 29, 2015, theentire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

The present disclosure generally relates to communications between oneor more vehicles and a local area security system.

Local area security systems, such as home security systems, officesecurity systems, building security systems and retail mall securitysystems use computers to monitor sensors to determine a potential threatwithin the vicinity of the local area security system. Multiple sensorsenhance an ability to of the local area security system to determine thepotential threat. Vehicles enter and leave the vicinity of a local areasecurity system. Vehicles include sensors that are monitored by avehicle computer to implement a function of the vehicle and may be idlewhile the vehicle is parked within the vicinity of the local areasecurity system.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one example, a vehicle has a computer system implementing a functionof the vehicle when the vehicle is located beyond a vicinity of a localarea security system. The function may be based upon a sensor signalfrom a vehicle sensor sensing a condition exterior to the vehicle. Amethod in the vehicle comprises determining the vehicle location to bewithin the vicinity of the local area security system and communicatinga sensor information signal based upon the sensor signal to the localarea security system.

In another example, a local area security system comprises a localsensor sensing a condition within a vicinity of the local area securitysystem, an interface for communicating with a vehicle having a computersystem implementing a function of the vehicle when the vehicle islocated beyond the vicinity of the local area security system. Thefunction of the vehicle may be based upon a sensor signal from a vehiclesensor sensing a condition exterior to the vehicle. The interface forreceiving a sensor information signal may be based upon the sensorsignal. The sensor information signal received from the vehicle whilethe vehicle is within the vicinity of the local area security system,and a processor determining a presence of a potential threat within thevicinity of the local area security system may be based upon the sensorinformation signal.

In another example, a computer programming product for controlling anoperation of a vehicle having a computer system for implementing afunction of the vehicle when the vehicle is located beyond a vicinity ofa local area security system is disclosed. The function of the vehicleis based upon a sensor signal from a vehicle sensor sensing a conditionexterior to the vehicle. A method for controlling the operationcomprises a tangible non-transitory computer-readable storage medium anda computer program instructions for determining the vehicle location tobe within the vicinity of the local area security system, andcommunicating a sensor information signal based upon the sensor signalto the local area security system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures where like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally similar elements throughout the separateviews, and which together with the detailed description below areincorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to furtherillustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles andadvantages all in accordance with the present disclosure, in which:

FIG. 1 represents an illustrative diagram of elements of thedescription;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram for vehicle and local areasecurity system communications;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram for vehicle and local areasecurity system communications;

FIG. 4 illustrates a first exemplary flow diagram for determining apresence or absence of a potential vicinity threat;

FIG. 5 illustrates a second exemplary flow diagram for determining apresence or absence of a potential vicinity threat;

FIG. 6 illustrates a third exemplary flow diagram for determining apresence or absence of a potential vicinity threat;

FIG. 7 illustrates a first exemplary flow diagram for conserving power;and

FIG. 8 illustrates a second exemplary flow diagram for conserving power.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following discussion, details are provided to help thoroughlyunderstand the present disclosure. However, it is apparent to those ofordinary skill in the art that even though there may be no such details,the understanding of the present disclosure would not be influenced. Inaddition, it should be further appreciated that any specific terms orapplications used herein are only for the convenience of description,and thus the present disclosure should not be limited to only use in anyspecific terms or applications represented and/or implied by such terms.

FIG. 1 represents an illustrative diagram of elements of thedescription. A vehicle 100, such as automobile or truck, traveling on aroad 102 has one or more vehicle sensors for implementing one or morefunctions of the vehicle. Vehicle sensors may be heterogeneous and maybe of any type while remaining within the scope of this description.Examples of vehicle sensors may include acoustic receivers, acoustictransceivers, infrared sensors, infrared transceivers, temperaturesensors, humidity sensors, precipitation detectors, smoke sensors,magnetometers, accelerometers, gyroscopic sensors, proximity sensors,radio receivers, radio transceivers, RADAR, LiDAR, LaDAR, ambient lightdetectors, location detectors, video cameras and other systems known tothose familiar with the art. These sensors may be used alone or incombination to implement one or more functions of the vehicle. Suchfunctions include vehicle navigation, atmospheric compensation such ascabin heating or air conditioning, driver assistance systems, lanedetection, video recording, collision detection, windshield wiperoperation, headlight operation, vehicle location, object and motiondetection, vehicle communication systems, vehicle security systems andother functions known to those familiar with the art of vehicles. Whilethe vehicle sensors tend to enhance the functionality of the vehiclewhile traveling, the vehicle sensors may remain substantially unutilizedwhile the vehicle is not being operated by a driver, such as when a caris parked at a driver's home or office or at a shopping area.

A building 110 may be a property such as home or office or shopping areaor other area where a local area security system is desirable. Suchsecurity systems detect potential threats within a vicinity 112 of thelocal area security system. Such potential threats include a person 115approaching the premises or other activities that merit attention.Typically an alarm is generated in response to a detected potentialthreat to draw attention to the potential threat. Local area securitysystems may use one or more local sensors to detect the potentialthreat. Such sensors include video cameras, acoustic receivers, acoustictransceivers, magnetic sensors, temperature sensors, electromagneticreceivers and transceivers, and other sensors known to those familiarwith the art. The local sensors are used by the local area securitysystem to facilitate the determination of a presence of a potentialthreat by implementing functions such as motion detection, glass breakdetection, door and window detection and other detections known by thosefamiliar with the art of local area security systems.

Some security systems may lack sufficient sensors and sufficient sensoranalysis and processing power to accurately determine a presence orabsence of a potential treat. There may be insufficient sensors togenerate sensor signals to enable accurate detection of a potentialthreat. For example, an unknown person may approach a house on a pathwhere there are no sensors able to detect the presence of the person,thus an alarm of the potential threat is not generated. Alternately, asensor signal may be generated based on detection of an event, thesensor signal generated in such a way that a person is improperlyidentified as a potential threat. Reasons for this improperidentification include either because there is insufficient informationin the sensor signal to identify the event as a non-threat or becausethe local area security system lacks sufficient processing power todetermine the event as a non-threat. For example, an owner of a houseapproaching the house may be sensed by a sensor and then inappropriatelydetermined to be a potential threat, and an alarm falsely generated.Since vehicles parked in the vicinity of a local area security systemgenerally have available sensors and processing power whose capabilitiesand range might exceed those of the existing local area security system,a potential advantage may be realized when the local area securitysystem functionality includes the additional sensors and processingabilities of such vehicles while in the vicinity of the local areasecurity system.

In one example a vehicle 120 is parked within the vicinity 112 of ahouse 110 having a local area security system. Because of the placementof local sensors around the house, a person 115 approaching the house isnot detected. However, the vehicle sensors may include ultrasonictransducers which form proximity sensors 122 in the vehicle 120 that maydetect the presence of person 115 and communicate the detection to thelocal area security system. The communication may be through a wirelesslink 124 such as a Bluetooth, WiFi, ZigBee, cellular, or other wirelessinterfaces. Alternately, the interface may be a wired Ethernet or otherinterface, particularly if vehicle 120 was coupled to a battery chargingstation coupled to the power system of the house for example. Thevehicle may include the proximity sensor signal in a sensor informationsignal communicated to the local area security system in order that thelocal area security system further process the signal to determine thepresence of a potential threat. In an alternate example, the vehicle mayprocess the sensor signal and make its own potential threatdetermination and include the determination in the sensor informationsignal communicated to the local area security system. Multiple sensorsmay be analyzed in the determination. For example, one vehicle proximitysensor may detect objects close to the ground and another may detectobjects above the ground. While the vehicle is parked, if an object isnot detected by both proximity sensors, then it is likely a small animaland thus not a potential threat. Such a determination analyzing multiplesensor signals may be made utilizing the processing power of the vehicleor the processing power of the local area security system or distributedbetween the vehicle and the local area security system based upon anumber of considerations in a manner known to those familiar with theart.

Vehicle 130 may also be located within vicinity 112 and also haveproximity detectors 132 detecting person 115 for communication to thelocal area security system through wireless link 134. However, person115 may be the driver of vehicle 130 and have activated a key foblocking vehicle 130, the vehicle sensor receiving the key fob signal mayutilized an electromagnetic radio frequency receiver as the vehiclesensor. With sufficient processing of from sensor information signalsfrom vehicles 120 and 130, person 115 could be detected as a person andthen affirmatively determined to be a non-threat within the vicinitybased upon the key fob sensor. Proximity sensors from both vehicleswould detect a person within the vicinity which may represent apotential threat, however sensor information from the key fob sensor mayaffirmatively be used to determine that person 115 is a non-threat. Thisdetermination may be made by local area security system receiving sensorinformation signals including live signals from the various sensors ofvehicles 120 and 130. Alternately, vehicle 130 may process signals fromits proximity and key fob sensors to determine person 115 to be anon-threat and communicate the determination in the sensor informationsignal to local area security system. In such a case, proximity sensorsof vehicle 120 also detect person 115 which may not provide sufficientinformation to determine per person 115 to be a non-threat.Nevertheless, the determination may be made by the local area securitysystem based upon the sensor information signal received from vehicle130. Such a determination may be enhanced by an authentication processthat only allows authorized communications. Furthermore, informationfrom location sensors and orientation sensors such as magnetometers maybe used to accurately locate detected objects to determine if the objectlocation determined by one vehicle corresponds to the object locationdetermined by another vehicle or stationary sensors of the local areasecurity system.

In an alternate example, the processing power of the local area securitysystem may be offloaded or distributed, and the determination that thesignal received by proximity sensors of vehicle 120 are processed todetermine person 115 is a non-threat by the processor of vehicle 120. Insuch an example, the sensor information signal is communicated fromvehicle 130 to 120, either by a direct vehicle to vehicle communicationor through a relay such as the local area security system or anothervehicle. With the sensor information signal from vehicle 130, vehicle120 could process the information from the key fob sensor of vehicle 120to determine person 115 is a non-threat. If the sensor informationsignal from vehicle 130 also included a determination of the location ofthe object by the proximity sensors of vehicle 130, then the objectlocation determination by vehicle 120 could be used to furthersubstantiate the non-threat determination. Furthermore, authenticationof the communications between the vehicles would further substantiatethe determination.

Vehicles 120 and 130 are shown parked within the vicinity 112 of thelocal area security system. In another example, vehicle 140 is showncoupled to vehicle 130 through wireless link 144. Vehicle 140 hassensors able to detect a potential threat with a vicinity 146. Thevicinity 146 may be added to vicinity 112 to expand the vicinity of thelocal area security system. Further, vehicle 150 is shown coupled tovehicle 140 through wireless link 154. Vehicle 150 has sensors able todetect a potential threat within a vicinity 146. Thus, both the vicinity136 and 146 may be added to vicinity 112 to expand the vicinity of thelocal area security system. As an example of the expanded vicinity,person 175 may be detected approaching house 110 well before enteringthe vicinity 112 because the person would be detected in vicinity 156 byvehicle 150 and then in vicinity 146 by vehicle 140. The sensorinformation signals from vehicles 140 and 150 may be relayed throughvehicle 130 and to the local area security system.

Vehicles 120, 130, 140 and 150 are networked and form a network ofvehicles which may be battery powered. Thus, it may be advantageous toconserve battery power and reduce power consumption while the vehiclesare parked. Any approach for reducing battery power consumption inresponse to a vehicle coupling to a security system coupled to a vehicleis contemplated to be within the scope of this description. Reduction ofbattery power consumption may be accomplished by reducing the amount ofcommunications between the vehicles and/or reducing the powering ofsensors. In one example, communication transmissions may be reduced bycommunicating determinations of threats by vehicles in the sensorinformation signal, rather than continuous live sensor signals, therebyconserving power in the communication of the sensor information signal.Thus a communication may be reduced to communication were a sensorinformation signal included a determination of a potential threat. Inanother example, the proximity sensors of vehicles 120 and 130 may bedetermined to be substantially redundant based upon their location andsensing abilities, in which case proximity sensors from one of thevehicle may be turned off, thereby conserving battery power for thatvehicle.

In another example of battery power conservation, sensors may beperiodically strobed or enabled to conserve battery power. Strobing orperiodically enabling a sensor at a rate of once a second may besufficient to determine a threat while conserving battery power. Ifproximity sensors of vehicles 120 and 130 were determined to detectobjects within a common area, then each could be strobed or enabled at arate of once every two seconds and phased a second apart to provideadequate object detection while further conserving power in bothvehicles. However, if an object was detected by the proximity sensors ofone of the vehicles, say vehicle 130, then for the duration of thedetection of the object, the proximity sensors of vehicle 130 may remainon. Furthermore, based upon the sensor information signal from vehicle130, the proximity sensors of vehicle 120 may be powered on morefrequently or constantly in order to provide more sensor information tomore accurately determine the presence or absence of the potentialthreat.

Similarly, if person 175 was detected by strobed proximity sensors invehicle 150 as person 175 approached house 110, then vehicle 140 couldreduce the strobe rate of its sensors or continuously operate itssensors based upon the sensor information signal received from vehicle150. In this example, this would allow the generation of additionalsensor information to more accurately determine the potential threat ofperson 175 while approaching house 110. The determination could be madeby the local area security system processing sensor information from thesensors of the various signals, or the determination could bedistributed through the various vehicles processing sensor informationfrom their respective sensors, or from sensors of other vehicles orlocal sensors of the local security system. In these examples, vehiclebattery power may be conserved in the absence of a potential threat,while significant sensor information made available for processing inthe presence of a potential threat.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram for vehicle and local areasecurity system communications. Local area security system 200 includesone or more local sensors 202 for sensing one or more conditions withinvicinity 112. Local sensors may include any sensors known to thosefamiliar with the art including the aforementioned local sensors.Processor 204 is coupled to the local sensors in order to operate aprocess 206 that determines the presence or absence of a potentialthreat within the vicinity. In response to a determined potentialthreat, an alert 208 is generated which may be an alarm, light flash,notice to a security or police force or other alert known to thosefamiliar with the art. Interface 212 provides for an interface withvehicles 120, 130 and reception of sensor information signals from thevarious vehicles. The interface may provide for wired or wirelessinterfaces with the vehicles such as those interfaces known to thosefamiliar with the art.

Vehicle 120 includes a corresponding interface 220 for communicating itssensor information signal to the local area security system 200 viainterface 212. Vehicle 120 includes a computer system 222 having acomputer readable storage media which may be non-transitory andremovable, and computer program instructions 226 for implementingmethods for controlling the operations and functions 228 of the vehicle.The computer instructions may be stored on storage media 224. Thevehicle also includes one or more vehicle sensors 232, such as sensor122, producing corresponding vehicle sensor signals. Vehicle sensors 232may include any sensors known to those familiar with the art includingthe aforementioned vehicle sensors. Many of the vehicle functions 228may be implemented while the vehicle is beyond the vicinity 122 of thelocal area security system and may include any vehicle functions knownto those familiar with the art, including the aforementioned vehiclefunctions. The vehicle security system 230 monitors various sensors 232to determine a potential threat to the vehicle whether or not thevehicle is within the vicinity 122 of the local area security system andthen alert 234 the determination. The generation of the sensorinformation signal may be independent of the determination of a presenceor absence of a potential threat to the vehicle by vehicle securitysystem 230. For example, detection of person 115 by vehicle 120 may bedetermined to be far enough away from the vehicle to not be a potentialvehicle threat but may be determined to be a potential threat within thevicinity of the local area security system. Similarly, an under inflatedtire on vehicle 120 may be determined to be a potential vehicle threat,but not a threat to the local area security system.

Vehicle 120 also includes a battery 236 for implementing variousfunctions of the vehicle including operation of the vehicle sensors andgeneration of the sensor information signal. Conservation of batterypower using approaches as described herein may be advantageous when thevehicle is in communication with the local area security system.

Vehicle 120 also includes a vehicle interface 238 for interfacing toother vehicles. Vehicle 120 is shown interfacing 144 to vehicle 140through interface 238. As described with respect to FIG. 1, vehicle 140wirelessly interfaces 154 with vehicle 150. An advantage of this vehicleto vehicle interfacing may include expanding the size of the vicinity112 to include vicinities 146 and 156 as well as the communication ofsensor information signals between vehicles and the distribution of theprocess for determining the presence or absence of a potential threatbetween the vehicles.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram for vehicle and local areasecurity system communications. In step 300 the vehicle sensors are usedto implement the various functions of the vehicle. In step 302 thepresence or absence of a vehicle threat is determined based at least onpart on the processing of the vehicle sensors signals, and an alert maybe generated. Step 304 determines if the vehicle is in the vicinity ofthe local area security system. Differing approaches may be utilized tomake this determination while remaining within the scope of thisdescription, including location determination using GPS or otherlocation determination method as well as an ability to establish a wiredor wireless coupling to interface of the local area security system. Theprocess returns to step 300 if the vehicle is not within the vicinity,which corresponds to conventional vehicle operations. It should be notedthat the process allows for the conventional vehicle processes of step300 and 302 whether or not the vehicle is within the vicinity of thelocal area security system.

If within the vicinity of the local area security system, step 306establishes a new interface (or maintains an existing interface) withthe local area security system. The interface may includeauthentication. Any type of authentication, encryption and/orcommunication security may be used while remaining within the scope ofthis description.

Step 308 determines if a failure of the local area security system hasoccurred and broadcasts a defect signal based upon the failure. Afailure or neutralization of the system may include an inability orreduced capacity to interface with the system while in the vicinity ofthe local area security system. For example, if an unauthorized removalof power from the local area security system has occurred or the localarea security system is otherwise disabled, and the vehicle arrives inthe vicinity of the local area security system (as determined by GPS forexample) then the inability of the vehicle to establish an interfacewith the local area security system would be indicative of a failure. Inresponse the vehicle could broadcast a defect signal. Another example ofa failure resulting in reduced capacity may include a disabling of acommunication link between the local area security system and externalsecurity service, such as by severing a telephone line. Accordingly, thevehicle would broadcast a defect signal. A defect signal may be anydefect signal known to those familiar with the art, including forexample, a sounding of an audio alert via a horn of a vehicle, or thevehicle broadcasting the defect signal to a security service via a cellphone network using a modem in the vehicle or a driver's cellphonewirelessly coupled to the vehicle's computer system.

Optional step 310 includes the vehicle threat signal determined at step302 in the sensor information signal. Optional step 312 includes a livesignal representation of the sensor signals of the vehicle within thesensor information signal. For example, if the vehicle sensor was avideo camera, then the live signal representation would appear as a livevideo feed from the video camera of the vehicle. The live signalrepresentation may be analyzed by the local area security system (ordistributed to any networked vehicle) using any process while remainingwithin the scope of this description. For example, a live video feed maybe processed for motion detection, object location, object recognitionor facial recognition as part of a determination of a potential threat.

Step 314 determines if the vehicle is located within the vicinity of asecond vehicle. If so, step 316 exchanges sensor information signalswith the second vehicle. The exchange may be used for a number ofpurposes, including to relay information to the local area securitysystem or other networked vehicles, facilitate distribution of processesfor determining the presence of absence of potential threats, orfacilitate battery conservation between the vehicles. In step 318 thesecond vehicle's sensor information signal may be included in thevehicle sensor information signal.

Step 320 determines the presence of absence or a potential vicinitythreat based on vehicle sensor signals as well as the second vehiclesensor information signal. The following figures provide a more detaileddescription of step 320. Step 322 includes the determination of thepresence or absence of the potential vicinity threat that is included inthe sensor information signal which is sent to the local area securitysystem at step 324. Thereafter the process returns to step 300.

FIG. 4 illustrates a first exemplary flow diagram for determining apresence or absence of a potential vicinity threat. Entering at step 320of FIG. 3, step 400 determines if a sensor signal is indicative of apresence of a potential vicinity threat. For example a proximity sensormay detect a moving object. In response, step 402 determines that apotential vicinity threat is present and exits to the flow diagram ofFIG. 3 at step 404.

FIG. 5 illustrates a second exemplary flow diagram for determining apresence or absence of a potential vicinity threat. Entering at step 320of FIG. 3, step 500 determines if a first sensor signal is indicative ofa presence of a potential vicinity threat. If so, step 502 determines ifa second sensor signal from the vehicle is also indicative of thepotential vehicle threat. Then step 504 determines the presence of thepotential vicinity threat based upon signals from the two sensors of thevehicle, and then exits back to the flow diagram of FIG. 3 at step 508.The flow diagram of FIG. 5 may be modified to include any number ofsensors from the vehicle in the threat determination. Building on aprior example with respect to detection of person 115 by vehicle 130,upper and lower proximity sensors of a vehicle may detect an object, buta sensor signal from a third key fob sensor of the vehicle may indicatethe object detected by the two proximity sensors may not be a threat.Consequently the absence of a threat would be determined at step 506 andthe process would exit back to the process of FIG. 3 at step 508.

FIG. 6 illustrates a third exemplary flow diagram for determining apresence or absence of a potential vicinity threat. Entering at step 320of FIG. 3, step 600 determines if a first sensor signal is indicative ofa presence of a potential vicinity threat. If so, step 602 determines ifa second sensor signal from a vehicle sensor of a second vehicle is alsoindicative of the potential vehicle threat. Then step 604 determines thepresence of the potential vicinity threat based upon signals from twosensors of the vehicle, and then exits back to the flow diagram of FIG.3 at step 506. The flow diagram of FIG. 6 may be modified to include anynumber of sensors from any number of vehicles in the threatdetermination. Building on a prior example object detection by proximitysensors of both vehicles 120 and 130 may be required to detect an objectsince it may be determined that those proximity detectors redundantlycover a common area. In another example, a proximity detector of onevehicle may detect person 175, while a video camera on another vehicleperforming biometric recognition on the detected person may recognize ahuman but not identify the human as an authorized person, therebyresulting in a determination of a potential threat at step 604.

FIG. 7 illustrates a first exemplary flow diagram for conserving power.Entering at step 320 of FIG. 3, step 700 determines if the vehiclesensor information signal is redundant with a vehicle information signalof a second vehicle. If not, then the vehicle sensor is enabled at step706 and the flow diagram exits back to FIG. 3 at step 708. If so, thenstep 702 conserves power by disabling the vehicle sensor. Then if thesensor information signal from the second vehicle indicate a presence ofa potential vehicle threat at step 704, then the vehicle sensor disabledat step 702 is enabled at step 706 and the flow diagram exits back toFIG. 3 at step 708. Building on a prior example if the proximity sensorsof vehicles 120 and 130 were determined to be redundant then one of thevehicle sensors would be shut down to conserve power. If a potentialthreat were detected, then power would be restored to the shutdownsensor to better facilitate a determination of a potential vicinitythreat.

FIG. 8 illustrates a second exemplary flow diagram for conserving power.Entering at step 320 of FIG. 3, step 800 periodically enables a vehiclesensor at a first periodic rate to produce the sensor signal, the sensorsignal being used in the determination of the potential threat. Thisperiodic enabling, or strobing, of the vehicle sensor may conservevehicle battery power. Then step 802 determines if there is a couplingto a second vehicle. If not, the process of FIG. 3 is exited to at step810. If coupled to another vehicle, step 804 periodically enablesstrobing of the sensor at a second rate less than the first rate.Building on a prior example a sensor of a system having a single vehiclemay be periodically strobed at a first rate of once per second. Whencoupled to a second vehicle, the periodic strobing may be reduced toonce every two seconds thereby further conserving battery power. Thesensor of the second vehicle may also be periodically strobed at thesecond rate of once every two seconds but phased one second after thesensor of the first vehicle, thereby making maintaining the combinedstrobing of both vehicles at once per second while enhancing powerconservation in both vehicles. Then step 802 determines if a vehiclesensor information signal indicates a presence of a potential vicinitythreat, and if so step 808 periodically enables the vehicle sensor at athird rate greater than the second rate thereby providing more sensorinformation for the determination of the potential threat. The thirdperiodic rate may be any value greater than the second periodic rate,and in this example may be a rate greater than once every two seconds,for example: once every one and a half seconds, once every second, onceevery half second, or even continuously on. The process of FIG. 3 isthen exited to at step 810

What is shown is a system and method for monitoring activities ofproperties such as buildings using vehicles such as parked cars locatedoutside of the properties. The parked cars are used for monitoring ofthe properties. Multiple sensors already installed in the parked carsare connected to an existing security system. The parked cars maycommunicate with each other to enhance the monitoring performance. Whilevehicles such as cars may include self-powered and self-containedsecurity systems, they may also be deployed in such a way as to enhancethe surveillance of local area security systems. Incorporating a parkedvehicle to a security system may also avoid the expense of purchasingand installing the supplemental sensors already available on a vehicle.This potential advantage may become more apparent when a desire forenhanced sensing is temporary; parking a vehicle in an appropriatelocation may quickly and economically provide the enhanced sensing.

Vehicle equipment purposed to implement vehicle functions may berepurposed when coupled to a local area security system. For example, acomputer system purposed to implement navigation, advanced driverassistance services and other vehicle functions may be repurposed toimplement the security network, with home security systems, imagerecognition and other potential threat determinations. Cameras used toimplement vehicle functions such as lane detection and traffic recordingmay be repurposed to implement vicinity recording and human detection.Ultrasonic sensors used implement vehicle functions such as collisiondetection may be repurposed for activity detection. Rain sensors used toimplement vehicle functions of windshield wiper operations may berepurposed facilitate a rain mode processing for image recognition.Light sensors used to implement vehicle functions of headlight operationmay be repurposed to facilitate night mode processing for imagerecognition.

A local area security system may have local sensors for motiondetection, and open window and open door detection. When a vehicle isincorporated into the local area security system, the additional vehicleequipment is available for repurposing. For example a vehicle computersystem may be repurposed to provide additional image recognitionresources, vehicle cameras may provide additional recording and humandetection, and other vehicle sensors may provide augmented information.

Furthermore, parked cars may share resources and facilities bycommunicating with each other. An entire security system may be formedby a network of cars, a local area security system covering a fixedvicinity may not be necessary. The network of cars may form a securitysystem covering a parking lot, a block, a street or even a village. Inthis example, the cars form a communication, signal processing, andsensing network. It is not necessary for all cars to have similarsensors or resources. The heterogeneous resources of each vehicle may beincorporated into a multi-vehicle security system. Efficient loadbalancing may be used to enable fair usage of the resources andequipment of each vehicle. If an intruder is detected by one vehicle, analarm may be broadcast to the other vehicles in the network. If one ofthe vehicles is coupled to vehicle having a cellular modem, then analarm may be delivered to an appropriate security agency through thecellular modem, even though the vehicle with the cellular modem was notthe vehicle victimized by the intruder.

A potential advantage of this description is a provision of securityagainst security system neutralization attempts because a portion of thesecurity system may be hidden in one or more vehicles. Thus there may beno one master unit or control box, which if neutralized would deactivatethe security system.

At least a portion of the description herein may be implemented in asoftware application installed in a vehicle. The application may be andaftermarket software package installed in an existing car by an owner oraftermarket service thereby adding additional utility to existingvehicles. In another example the application may be an originalequipment application installed in a vehicle at time of manufacture.Vehicles equipped with the functionality herein may be owned by variousagencies, such as rental car companies, which may deliver vehicles tolocations where additional security is required for the duration thatthe additional security is needed.

Also described herein is a system and method for monitoring activitiesof properties by using parked cars outside properties such as buildingssuch as houses, office structures or retail establishments. In additionto using dedicated equipment for security, described herein is a methodto utilizing existing in-car resources with a different operation mode.The description includes a method for communicating information obtainedfrom the sensors in the parked car to neighboring other parked cars orexisting home security system. Further, described herein is a method forsharing different sensors or facilities in the parked cars by using theframework built on top of connected parked cars. Further described is amethod for reconstructing any events recorded individually around theparked cars in the order of occurrence by identifying, merging, and/orclassifying relevant information in the background utilizing distributedcomputing and memory resources. Such resources may be included in thevehicles, the security systems and the cloud. Sensors in the parked carsfor monitoring any security-related events occurring around the localarea computer system (possibly in conjunction with the existing securitysystem) to augment security system with resources (e.g. sensors) in theparked cars. Moreover, when combined with the cloud infrastructure, thesystem provides additional features such as tracking of street-levelevents or global resource managements. Further, the vehicle may formanother “zone” to secure, and sensors equipped in the vehicle may beused for monitoring suspicious activities in and around the vehicle. Thesensors in the parked car are exploited or redeployed to monitor thevicinity, which means the parked vehicles may serve as another securitymeasure. Existing resources equipped in the vehicle are repurposed formonitoring the vicinity, which provides a potential advantage of notrequiring external monitoring sensors in the local area security system.The communication between cars and existing security system may be basedupon a peer-to-peer network which may be robust against frequentjoining/leaving of vehicles. Moreover, the dynamic nature of cooperativeparked cars may be leveraged by incorporating load balance ofresource-usage between parked cars.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers, and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The description of the present invention has been presented for purposesof illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer programming product for controlling anoperation of a vehicle having a computer system for implementing afunction of the vehicle when the vehicle is located beyond a vicinity ofa local area security system, the function based upon a sensor signalfrom a vehicle sensor sensing a condition exterior to the vehicle, amethod for controlling the operation comprising: a tangiblenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium; and computer programinstructions for determining a vehicle location to be within thevicinity of the local area security system, and communicating a sensorinformation signal based upon the sensor signal to the local areasecurity system enabling the vehicle sensor to consume power from abattery included within the vehicle to produce the sensor signal;coupling to a second vehicle located within the vicinity of the localarea security system, the second vehicle having a second vehicle sensorproviding a second sensor information signal to the local area securitysystem; and conserving battery power by disabling the vehicle sensor toconsume power from the battery based upon the sensor information signalbeing determined to be redundant to the second sensor informationsignal.
 2. The computer program product according to claim 1 wherein thecomputer system determines that the sensor signal is indicative of anabsence of a potential threat to the vehicle and the communicatingcommunicates the sensor information signal based upon the determinedabsence of the potential threat to the vehicle.
 3. The computer programproduct according to claim 2 wherein the sensor signal is indicative ofa presence of a potential threat to the vehicle and the method furthercomprises including the presence of the potential threat to the vehiclewithin the sensor information signal.
 4. The computer program productaccording to claim 1 wherein the sensor signal is indicative of apresence of a potential threat to the vehicle and the method furthercomprises: determining a presence of a potential threat within thevicinity of the local area security system based upon the sensor signal,and including the determined presence of the potential threat within thesensor information signal.
 5. The computer program product according toclaim 1 further comprising: periodically enabling the vehicle sensor toconsume power from a battery included within the vehicle at a firstperiodic rate for producing the sensor signal; coupling to a secondvehicle located within the vicinity of the local area security system,the second vehicle having a second vehicle sensor for providing a secondsensor information signal to the local area security system; andperiodically enabling the vehicle sensor to consume power from thebattery at a second periodic rate less than the first periodic rate forproducing the sensor signal, the second periodic rate based upon thecoupling, wherein power consumption from the battery is reduced at thesecond periodic rate relative to the first periodic rate.
 6. Thecomputer program product according to claim 5 further comprisingperiodically enabling the vehicle sensor to consume power from thebattery at a third periodic rate greater than the second periodic ratebased upon the second sensor information signal indicating a detectionof a potential threat within the vicinity of the local area securitysystem.
 7. The computer program product according to claim 1 wherein thevehicle includes another sensor for affirmatively identifying a presenceof a non-threat within a vicinity of the vehicle, the method furthercomprising: determining a presence of a potential threat within thevicinity of the local area security system based upon the sensor signal;affirmatively identifying the presence of the non-threat within thevicinity of the vehicle based upon the other sensor; and including theidentified presence of the non-threat within the sensor informationsignal.
 8. The computer program product according to claim 1 methodfurther comprising: determining a presence of a potential threat withinthe vicinity of the local area security system based upon the sensorsignal; coupling to a second vehicle located within the vicinity of thelocal area security system, the second vehicle having a second vehiclesensor for affirmatively identifying a presence of a non-threat within avicinity of the local area security system based upon the second sensor;and excluding the determined presence of the potential threat from thesensor information signal based upon the second vehicle identifying thepresence of the non-threat.
 9. The computer program product according toclaim 1 further comprising: coupling to a second vehicle located withinthe vicinity of the local area security system, the second vehiclehaving a second vehicle sensor providing second sensor information tothe vehicle; determining a presence of a potential threat within thevicinity of the local area security system based upon the sensor signaland the second sensor information; and including the determined presenceof the potential threat within the sensor information signal.
 10. Thecomputer program product according to claim 1 wherein the vehicle sensorincludes at least one of an acoustic receiver, an acoustic transceiver,an infrared sensor, an infrared transceiver, a temperature sensor, ahumidity sensor, a precipitation detector, a smoke sensor, amagnetometer, an accelerometer, a gyroscopic sensor, a proximity sensor,a radio receiver, a radio transceiver, RADAR, LiDAR, LaDAR, an ambientlight detector, and a video camera.
 11. The computer program productaccording to claim 1 further comprising including a live signalrepresentation of the sensor signal within the sensor informationsignal.
 12. The computer program product according to claim 11 furthercomprising: determining a presence of a potential threat within thevicinity of the local area security system based upon the sensor signal,and including the determined presence of the potential threat within thesensor information signal.
 13. The computer program product according toclaim 1 further comprising: determining a failure in the local areasecurity system; and broadcasting a defect signal based upon thefailure.
 14. The computer program product according to claim 1 furthercomprising: wirelessly coupling to a second vehicle located within thevicinity of the local area security system, the second vehicle having asecond vehicle sensor providing a second sensor information signal tothe local area security system; and communicating the sensor informationto the second vehicle such that the second vehicle communicates a signalbased upon the sensor information signal to the local area securitysystem.
 15. The computer program product according to claim 14 whereinthe vicinity of the local area security system is enlarged based uponthe second vehicle wirelessly coupling with the vehicle.